​This weekend I suffered a shoulder injury that has left me with some arm pain and an inability to fully move my right arm. Doctors tell me that the x-rays show that I have a calcium deposit in my shoulder that is pressing down on a tendon and causing a great deal of pain. Today I am seeing an orthopedic specialist to see what can be done to help restore my arm. The downside is that I will have to take a it a bit easy in terms of blogging because it’s a bit painful for me to type.

​I thought I’d begin today by noting that the White House was forced to react to the epidemic of fake news and conspiracy theories yesterday in response to the latest “Pizzagate” events. A man shot up a pizza parlor in Washington, D.C. this weekend because he had become obsessed with a claim made by conspiracy theorists, including the son of Donald Trump’s national security advisor-designate Michael Flynn, also named Michael Flynn and a Trump transition official in his own right, who promoted a false story that Hillary Clinton and John Podesta were operating a child sex ring out of tunnels beneath the restaurant. The so-called “Pizzagate” has been an active part of fringe culture for the past few weeks, and I noticed that Kristan Harris, whose radio show I appeared on one time to discuss aliens and giants, was actively promoting Pizzagate last week, before the shooting.

​Meanwhile, our friends Scott Wolter and J. Hutton Pulitzer delivered an hour-long session of “Ask Me Anything” on Facebook Sunday night, with a low-quality web stream (a webcam view of a computer screen, if the jostling camera was any indication) that was at times difficult to see. During the show, Wolter discussed his involvement with Graham Hancock and his newfound conviction that the “Atlanteans” really existed. (Presumably he is referring to the high Ice Age culture of the continental shelf hypothesized by Graham Hancock and called Atlanteans in Magicians of the Gods.) Wolter, a geologist, claimed that “the pyramids” are thousands of years older than claimed, based on allegations that Graham Hancock himself no longer believes. (Hancock once though the Great Pyramid was Ice Age in origin, but now he suggests only that it was planned then and might be built on a smaller, older mound.)

The pair claim that they are working on a huge story that they are unable to share until a later date because they want to get it “right.” Pulitzer alleges that early Americans discovered mummies in the United States and burned them to destroy the evidence. Wolter claims that the Smithsonian Institution “made my life as difficult as they could make it” by refusing to support his work. The Smithsonian, you will recall, allowed Wolter to film America Unearthed on its premises and with its artifacts. Wolter now says that the museum is “lying” about history.

They also delivered their usual and repetitive basket of claims, including allegations that “academics” (or, as Wolter slipped and called them, “asshole-demics”) are committing fraud, suppressing the truth, and don’t understand the value of his “professional peer review.” There were a lot of attacks on academics, and Pulitzer used part of his time to deny that “academics” really understand ancient history, to discuss whether humans and dinosaurs coexisted, and to claim that scientists developed the idea of human evolution from incomplete skeletons like Lucy, which he said is too incomplete to determine its relationship to humans. He and Wolter offered a bunch of claims taken over from David Childress, Robert Schoch, and Graham Hancock, including the age-old false claim of vitrified forts—a claim so old that Charles Fort wrote of it in 1919. I discussed this years ago, and it’s kind of sad that a geologist thinks that a cosmic event was required to create the burning seen on these forts.

So, bottom line: Wolter now believes in Atlanteans, which I guess makes the Holy Bloodline conspiracy a subset of Lost Civilization Theory, with the Templars and Freemasons now the last lineal descendants of the secret cult that ran the Lost Civilization, identified by Ignatius Donnelly, Helena Blavatsky, Andrew Collins, and Graham Hancock with the Nephilim.

He says the Templars were experts on the seas, and may have developed their own unique methods of navigation the world still hasn't figured out yet.(due to the longitude on Halpern's map)
So the fake map shows how brilliant the Templars were !
He also says Rhodon is likely the "Rose Line" and might be an important line of latitude. (um,,doesn't the "Rose Line" run north/south ? )

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Kathleen

12/6/2016 10:34:27 am

I hate to mention the vitrified Minoan palaces I saw in Crete. Puts things too close to Santorini/Atlantis.

Perhaps SW is learning the moving target technique from JHP

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Scott David Hamilton

12/6/2016 10:40:38 am

One correction: The Michael Flynn who has been promoting Pizzagate is not the general Trump nominated for a post, but rather his son of the same name.

It was my understanding that the father tweeted about how it was interesting and asked told readers to make up their own minds, while the son was more direct about endorsing it. Either way, it's weird.

As for you shoulder, put it in a sling and give it some time. An orthopod is just going to set you up for an MRI and then try to cut you; assuming of course there's insurance to pay for it all. If not, he'll tell you to put it in a sling and give it some time...

JA Sterling

12/6/2016 11:12:25 am

Wish you well on your recovery... well done piece as usual. One just has to admire the variety of precisely picked elements for the plot-lines that are created for all these fictional stories (ie pseudo-archaeology)

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SDO

12/6/2016 11:24:04 am

Jason, you need to get Cortana, Alexa, Siri ,... to help you out even though they are probably tied to some conspiracy theory somewhere :)

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Fred

12/6/2016 11:41:00 am

Wolter has reached the point of no return. In a way he has compromised himself with his associations then expects to be taken seriously by the academic world. Hello. The academics treat each other just like they treat Hancock and Wolter so why should they even care if their ideas are accepted by them? He has now adapted an "us against them stance" that will only serve to fuel their own misconceptions and wishful thinking. lol. Next week Pulitzer and Wolter advocate for the "flat earth" stay tuned.

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Shane Sullivan

12/6/2016 11:57:06 am

Poor deluded fool. The Cosmic Serpent already told me that Atlantis wasn't real. Also that UFOs were atmospheric phenomena, myths do not record alien encounters, ley lines are pure nonsense, vaccinations do not cause autism, the Great Pyramid was designed and built by Egyptians, and that the New World Order hasn't existed since 2000 whereupon Jarrett, Steiner and the Harris brothers joined The New Blood and Nash joined The Millionaire's Club.

This special, privileged knowledge I channelled myself, so I know it's true.

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Kal

12/6/2016 12:04:42 pm

These two old fringe TV guys seem awfully obsessed with finding secret knowledge they made up to hide their obvious closet insecurities. They should both just decide to take up exploerer fantasy writing. It might be more lucrative. Hey, they could try trashy romance novels with covers of burly self portraits but with muscles and wearing Indy Jones hats, bare chested. One of them could be dressed as a Mermaid...merman...or something.

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Americanegro

12/7/2016 05:10:24 pm

"obvious closet insecurities"! If I get your gist, I've been saying this for some time. Wolter is high-strung in a way that suggests he's wrestling with concealing The Love (or Hobby, or Inclination) That Dare Not Speak Its Name. I don't think it's guilt from The Great Agate Fraud that's eating away at him. Still, that's an interesting story because he either defrauded someone for thousands of dollars or he's not competent as a geologist. There's no third possibility.

Jason, if you have a Mac with a recent OS you can set it up to take dictation.

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At Risk

12/6/2016 01:04:19 pm

Jason, yes, less keyboarding and more reading for a while should help.

Here's something that seems to cover the whole "Nephilim" and "giants" issues very well, giving all the main viewpoints, and seemingly without much prejudice at all.

https://answersingenesis.org/bible-characters/who-were-the-nephilim/

I myself subscribe to the notion that "demon DNA" did not play a part in the "birth" of these so-called Nephilim. I believe any apparent incarnation of this type of evil (as seen, or witnessed) is either through human "possession" or through illusions, which appear physical. (UFO's and Bigfoot can be put into this latter category, I believe.)

The Book of Enoch is discussed and put into a context that should make most researchers happy.

I will pray for the healing of your shoulder. You may believe in this, if you are Catholic... just as you may believe in demonic afflictions, too. No guarantees, though. Remember, Paul asked three times for a particular relief, and God said no, desiring for Paul to stay humble, and ultimately more useful.

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A Buddhist

12/6/2016 01:16:52 pm

As a Buddhist, I also believe in demonic possession - but demons are the product of the mind, as Vasubandhu argued.

At Risk: Answers in Genesis is prejudiced, insofar as its writers must defer above all else to the authority of the Christian Bible. If the Bible say X yet another source say Y, then they must believe X. How is that not prejudiced? Are you believing Answers In Genesis to reveal the truth about the World's origins?

Jason, I wish you well in your recovery from the shoulder injury. I have had my shoulder pain for years, so I well know how painful such injuries are. I wish for my part that I could write as much as you can.

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Uncle Ron

12/6/2016 03:58:36 pm

"Answers in Genesis <are> prejudiced, insofar as its writers must defer above all else to the authority of the Christian Bible."

And answers in Buddhism are prejudiced, insofar as the writers must defer above all else to the authority of the Tripitaka (and/or whatever other holy book(s) you care to add in). How is that not prejudiced? The peace, transcendence, humility, or whatever, that each belief system gives its (true) believers is the same, for all practical purposes.

A Buddhist

12/6/2016 06:08:15 pm

"Answers in Genesis" is the name of a website.

I admit that I defer to the Tiptaka and credible shastras, but these sources do not lead me to deny the antiquity of the universe; rather, they affirm such. Furthermore, I wear my biases upon my sleeve as it were.

Uncle Ron

12/6/2016 06:31:50 pm

My apologies. I misunderstood the intent of your remark.
I did not see the name in the link At Risk link referred to.

At Risk

12/7/2016 11:15:10 am

A Buddhist, hi again, yes, I am believing answers in Genesis reveal the truth about the World's origins; however, I also believe in the science of evolution.

Anyone, including Christians, would be foolish to discard evolution, unless they might want to believe that God created the universe with the APPEARANCE of age, perhaps to confound the worldly wise ones.

I don't know how God coordinated the exchange, or switch-over to humans with spirits, from earlier advancements, or if this happened at all. Perhaps He created humans entirely separate from the evolutionary process, as special, unique beings...who fell from grace and longevity. These, I believe, are purposeful mysteries, designed to feed and test faith in Him. Ultimately, it is impossible to please our Creator without faith in Him and His existence.

One thing that makes Christianity unique within the World's religions is that Jesus claimed that there is no other way to salvation and reconciliation to our Creator, God, except through Him.

The Bible explains where we came from and where we're all headed. It's up to us to seek God out, or not. If we make sincere attempts to draw near to God, through Jesus His Son, He will certainly draw near to us.

A Buddhist, I mean no disrespect to you, and I sincerely hope this may help you...at the End of Days, where time will be no more.

McFad

12/6/2016 01:56:59 pm

I tried to listen to that horrid video got 20 mins in and just couldn't listen to that garbage anymore. scott wolter and hutoon can't even claim a comedy act together....SAD.
Isn't it rich?
Are we a pair?
Me here, at last, on the ground
You in mid-air
Send in the clowns

Isn't it bliss?
Don't you approve?
One who keeps tearing around
One who can't move
Where are the clowns?
Send in the clowns

Just when I'd stopped opening doors
Finally knowing the one that I wanted was yours
Making my entrance again with my usual flair
Sure of my lines
No one is there
Don't you love farce?
My fault, I fear
I thought that you'd want what I want
Sorry, my dear
But where are the clowns?
There ought to be clowns
Quick, send in the clowns

What a surprise!
Who could foresee?
I'd come to feel about you
What you felt about me
Why only now, when I see
That you've drifted away?
What a surprise
What a cliche

Isn't it rich?
Isn't it queer?
Losing my timing this late in my career
And where are the clowns?
Quick, send in the clowns

Don't bother
They're here

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Kathleen

12/6/2016 02:57:06 pm

Oh jeez, now I won't be able to get that song out of my head.

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Bob Jase

12/6/2016 02:28:03 pm

Oh I've met a few real Atlanteans myself, when I visited Atlanta that is.

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Andy White

12/6/2016 02:46:54 pm

I have become increasingly convinced that Atlanta really doesn't exist.

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Shane Sullivan

12/6/2016 02:51:55 pm

My dad and I visited Atlanta years ago. Detours kept re-routing us back into the city, preventing us from leaving.

I suspect Atlanta is related to the Bermuda Triangle mystery.

Andy White

12/6/2016 02:56:20 pm

Which also doesn't exist. Case closed.

Jim

12/6/2016 03:07:07 pm

Some claim the south will rise again.

Screaming Eagle

12/6/2016 10:24:07 pm

Love...

Only Me

12/6/2016 03:14:16 pm

It goes without saying, but you can always tell when a fringe proponent has become desperate. He/she will:

a) repeat the same claims, in the hope repetition will somehow transform those claims into facts

b) start incorporating elements from other fringe claims to support his/her basic hypothesis.

As Andy said on his own blog, Pulitzer is considered a joke by other members of the fringe. Wolter still demonstrates a distinct lack of knowledge concerning peer review and should really abstain from insulting the very people he wants so desperately to recognize him.

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SDO

12/6/2016 10:05:18 pm

I love how Pulitzer had to say "Hi" to every single person who was online, all 6 of them. Even the person who "got pounded by 8 inches".

We cannot say for certain that Atlanteans didn't exist as a historical people, only that there is a lack of evidence for them and they are probably fiction. I don't see a contradiction between being sceptical and developing a hypothesis for historical Atlanteans, because the latter has not been falsified. The problem is the lack of reasonable Atlantis theories, few have academic credibility.

With that in mind, the only reasonable academic works on Atlantis I have come across to propose the Atlanteans were a real historical people include: Robert L. Scranton. (1949). Lost Atlantis found again?. Archaeology. 2: 159—162; Marinatos, S. (1950). "On the Atlantis Legend". Cretica Chronica. 4: 195-213; Marinatos, S. (1971). Some Words about the Legend of Atlantis. Athens; Frost, K. T. (1913). "The Critias and Minoan Crete". J. Hell. Stud. 33: 189-206; Luce, J. V. (1969). The End of Atlantis. Thames and Hudson. All of these excluding Scranton, are the Minoan-Thera Atlantis theory, but I think Jason does a good job showing why this hypothesis is wrong. There is also Zangger's Troy Atlantis theory (The Flood from Heaven: Deciphering the Atlantis Legend), criticized by Rowe, C. (1998). "On Plato, Homer, and Archaeology". Arion. 5(3): 134-144
http://www.jstor.org/stable/20163694

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Bob Jase

12/7/2016 12:34:47 pm

If you subscribe to Cretans/Minoans being 'Atlanteans' then Atlanteans never existed because the C/M neither called themselve Atlanteans nor were they called Atlanteans by others.

Plato doesn't mention Atlanteans in his dialogues, only Atlantis and variant spellings meaning "of Atlas". The argument for a historical Atlanteans as inhabitants of Atlantis would be to map the location of the Titan Atlas and his pillar/mountain in Greek mythology, but Plato is by no means clear that the Atlas of his dialogues is the same as the Titan (he has a different genealogy, however both Plato's Atlas and the Titan are positioned in the far west.)

There are no classical sources that locate Atlas in Crete, but Robert L. Scranton put forward the Atlantis Boeotian theory based on the fact there is an ancient tradition Atlas' mountain was in Tangara, Boeotia as recorded by Pausanias (9. 20. 3).

nomuse

12/7/2016 11:46:39 pm

Or "Minoan," for that matter.

I seem to recall L. Sprague DeCamp saying something about all these resurrections of the Atlantis myth that fail to agree in any substantive way with Plato's account: something along the lines of merely changing the name, gender, date, and continent and thereby showing that the "Real" King Arthur was in fact Cleopatra.

Cousin Eddie

12/7/2016 10:38:29 am

What Jason ... no comment on the other Wolter bombshell on the Q/A show? Perhaps you are working on that one ...

"I have been told by Native Americans that there is a repository of Treasure left by the Knights Templar in the mountains of Montana." - S. Wolter 12/5/2016

I believe that's the same "treasure" he and his friends have been blathering about for a year now, since his Templar conspiracy friend (the name escapes me) wrote a book (which I believe I reviewed earlier this year) claiming that there the Freemasons' Secret Vault is really in Montana and that the Ark of the Covenant or whatever was buried there.

I have a copy of Right Eminent Knight William F. Mann's book, "Templar Sanctuaries in North America, Sacred Bloodlines and Secret Treasures," which has a lengthy foreword by Scott Wolter, and I just re-read the three-part series by Jason, about it. Additionally, I just listened to Jimmy Church's radio program, from the link in Jason's December 8, 2016 blog, where Scott and Jimmy kick it around for a while about notions of treasure.

Mann predicates his belief about "traveling treasure" on Henry Sinclair, who is supposed to have traveled inland from the East Coast of America around AD 1400, constantly moving farther inland with the help of Algonquin friends, with whom they "interbred" to keep not only a Holy Bloodline going, but also control over this Templar treasure.

Mann believes that because of his own Holy Bloodline (including American Indian), and because of his elevated Templar connections, he has been able to put everything together in order to pinpoint where the treasure and Henry Sinclair’s body ended up (even though Sinclair's death has apparently already been accounted for...back in Europe). There are many bizarre history lessons along the way in Mann's book.

At first, I thought I had wasted money on this book, because of the extreme Jesus Bloodline and Henry Sinclair views, but I have since then read some rather interesting esoteric information from the book that I have found somewhat puzzling, like his take on owl symbolism being traced back to Lilith, a supposed goddess of wisdom, among other things.

Not long after becoming interested in the subject of the Kensington Runestone, I went out on my first "field expedition" (Summer of 2010) to see if I could possibly locate an item I found interesting in Wolter's Hooked X book. I didn't find the proposed medieval blacksmithing-quenching-basin with attached anvil I was hoping to get a better look at, but I did stumble upon a little valley which had an abundance of what I took to be medieval Scandinavian evidences, which included a deeply etched and aged-appearing owl's head, about the size of a softball.

I could see that this barely portable-sized, tablet-shaped, rather dark stone was basically overlooking the little valley of supposed medieval wonders, and typically, the site included a spring-fed pond. Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to discuss the location of this site, but it is not far in distance from the proposed Norse Code-stone site I told blog readers about finding, earlier in one of Jason's blogs.

What bugs me is that this carved owl's head really does seem to have been placed into position to challenge one's ability to understand what is going on there with the various other evidences. But, who would have used this symbol as a clue to who the makers of the other evidences in the little valley were, evidences including rock re-shaping and proposed medieval stoneholes? Theology-errant Templar or Cistercian monks?

So, to symbolize what then, beyond an ordinary challenge to use an owl's wisdom, for understanding? In other words, I can't help wondering why an owl would be represented at the site, other than to challenge one's brain about the meaning of certain details at the site; but, exactly how would this owl's head as a medieval Norse symbol have come into play, in far-inland America?

I should need to make a thorough study of owl symbols in medieval Scandinavia, for further clues to this mystery. I'm not satisfied with Mann's viewpoint of the owl-head I found possibly representing an old pagan goddess, as seen through the eyes of Templars or Cistercians, either representing the Catholic Church at an earlier time, or else later, apart from the Church, after the Templar downfall. The owl-head must be representing something more common, right?

In the meantime, there may be Templar treasure to be found, still, unless I'm mistaken...but not at Oak Island! The two best places I know of to look are: at Runestone Park, where a large X may have been superimposed over the landscape (using stoneholes in rocks), with the KRS as an attending hook on the X; and, at the site of the proposed Norse Code-stone I found last year.

I hypothesize, quite liberally, that the post-Templars (or earlier Catholic Church with the aid of the Templars) may have deposited "token" treasure at either of these locations, in connection with surveying and intended land-claiming. The buried treasure would be meant to represent "earnest" deposits, or token down-payments, on desired land. The treasure would be proof of visitation by a powerful entity.

This speculation has nothing to do with a Jesus Bloodline or Henry Sinclair. It has to do with Scandinavians depositing and hoping to retrieve tokens of power and prior visitation. I believe this included a means of relocating the resting places of said tokens of power.

IF SW and JHP were any more drunk off their own moonshine, they'd be drunks and need an intervention from the 6 remaining people on their podcast.

In their minds, facts are little more than bloviated opinions, and are part of their struggle to claim they're right, and that if they lie enough they will get someone to believe it.

If there was a Templar treasure somewhere, it's long gone.

If the Ark was somewhere and had powers, like the Bible claims it did, it would have defended itself from being found, like in that Indy film.

Why don't these guys just go and pen a script for an Indiana Jones fan fiction web page. It might make more sense.

And a trashy romance, as making fan fics of popular stuff is vogue.

the fringe meanwhile will find this a glorious example of schadenfreude.

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jeff sanderson

12/8/2016 02:42:31 pm

Graham Hancock on a recently posted youtube - title suddenly changed from 'I was a stringer' to 'Ice Age is the foundations of House of History' - fesses up that he wasn't 'the East African correspondent for The Economist' but only a lowly stringer. Why the sudden honesty. Was he about to get busted and like all good politicians is getting out in front of it. Ummm... so for twenty+ years he misleads and bases a lot of pseudo credibility on this fake job title. He doesn't seem to be correcting this major mistake in his resume on his bio material on Amazon, etc. More significant in the video he forgets to mention the real reason he was in the country. Writing books to order to tweet a dictators' image! Very spiritual. Probably a slick rationalization somewhere for the reason a grown man in his thirties would go after this life goal.
From Underworld page 73 - not making this up -
"I'm not trying to find Atlantis, or even to guess where it might have been located - if it ever existed at all - since it is well known that such inquiries lead to madness.'
Must have decided in the relentless quest for fame and profit in the U.S. that he must go down the madness route anyway. The hypocrisy is mind boggling.

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I'm an author and editor who has published on a range of topics, including archaeology, science, and horror fiction. There's more about me in the About Jason tab.